Sennheiser HD 518

My son wanted Beats by Dre, like every other kid in the world, but he just happened to catch me in the middle of my headphone obsession and I said to myself, no son of mine is going to have those piece of crap Beats by Dre. Target was advertising the Beats Solo 2 before Christmas and my wife bought them. I made her return them. I knew an 11-year-old would hate “on ear” headphones and started researching better alternatives.

I kept coming back to Sennheiser and, without going past the $200 or $500 price tag and the high-end headphones, but the Sennheisers seemed to have the best dynamic range and best bass (which is what an 11-year-old will care most about) for the price.